Subsequence With the Minimum Score
A hard-tier problem at 33% community acceptance, tagged with Two Pointers, String, Binary Search. Reported in interviews at DoorDash and 1 others.
Subsequence With the Minimum Score is a hard string problem that trips up engineers who treat it as a standard subsequence match. DoorDash and Meesho have both asked it. The acceptance rate sits at 32.6%, which means roughly two-thirds of candidates who attempt it leave without a solution. You're looking at a problem that demands you flip your intuition about what 'minimum' means in a subsequence context. If you blank on the trick during your live assessment, StealthCoder runs invisibly and surfaces a working approach in seconds, no proctor visibility.
Companies that ask "Subsequence With the Minimum Score"
Subsequence With the Minimum Score is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Built by an engineer who got tired of watching his cohort grind for six months and still get filtered at the OA stage.
Get StealthCoderThe core trick is recognizing that you're not minimizing the length of a subsequence, you're minimizing the sum or length of characters you must delete from the original string to remove a target subsequence entirely. Most candidates waste time on greedy subsequence matching. The actual solution uses two pointers or binary search to find the optimal split point: match the target from the left, match the remainder from the right, then calculate what's left over in the middle. The pattern involves string slicing and pointer logic that feels counterintuitive until you see it. Common failure modes include misreading the problem as a standard 'find min length subsequence' and attempting dynamic programming when the two-pointer insight is faster. If this problem surfaces in your assessment and you're unsure of the split-point logic, StealthCoder solves it without raising flags.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Subsequence With the Minimum Score recycles across companies for a reason. It's hard-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by an engineer who got tired of watching his cohort grind for six months and still get filtered at the OA stage. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Subsequence With the Minimum Score interview FAQ
Is this problem as hard as the 32.6% acceptance rate suggests?+
Yes. It's hard not because the code is complex, but because the problem statement hides what you're actually minimizing. Most candidates misread it as a standard subsequence problem and implement the wrong approach entirely. Once you see the trick, the implementation follows naturally.
How does this relate to the two pointers and binary search topics listed?+
Two pointers is the most common solution: match the target from the left, match the remainder from the right, calculate the gap. Binary search is an alternative that lets you search for the optimal middle range. Both require pointer manipulation and string indexing, which is why those topics appear.
Do DoorDash and Meesho ask this the same way?+
Both companies ask it as part of their coding assessments, but exact wording and follow-up constraints may differ. The core algorithmic challenge remains identical. Prepare for the general pattern, not a single variant.
Will greedy or DP get me partway through this problem?+
Greedy subsequence matching won't solve it. DP is possible but overkill and slower. The two-pointer insight is both simpler and faster. If you start down greedy or DP, you're burning time that doesn't yield a correct solution.
What's the key insight I need to remember going in?+
You're not finding a subsequence. You're splitting the string into three parts: left prefix matching the target, right suffix matching the remainder, and a middle section. Minimize what's left in the middle. That reframing unlocks the solution immediately.
Want the actual problem statement? View "Subsequence With the Minimum Score" on LeetCode →